Cleveland Scene--Cleveland's alt-weekly--reports the city is drawing inspiration for redevelopment from a variety of sources, including Pittsburgh, which has used the arts as a way to bring life to vacant properties.
"The 2010 Census could show that Cleveland's population has plummeted since the last official count, and federal funds for everything from roads to schools could follow. So the prospect of an influx of tax-paying, neighborhood-stabilizing residents is intriguing--even if they are artists... It's an idealistic notion, but not an unrealistic one. It could happen in Cleveland. It's happened in other cities, big and small," the article states.
The piece continues, "Two hours to the east of Cleveland, Pittsburgh has the Penn Avenue Arts Initiative program, a joint project between two community development groups. Over 12 years, it has developed a 10-block section along Penn Avenue, a major artery that connects downtown with nearby urban neighborhoods. Dotted with wholesalers, taverns and restaurants, it's roughly comparable to Euclid Avenue or Detroit Avenue.
"The Penn Avenue Arts Initiative has helped rehab and redistribute a dozen foreclosed and vacant buildings. It's helped recruit artists and craftsmen who have converted abandoned storefronts and empty factories into bike shops and cafes. In the Pittsburgh plan, the properties are always cheap, but never free. It's sold properties from $5,000 to $100,000, depending on whether they go to an individual or group and their goals."
The initiative has facilitated $58 million of real-estate development. After a dozen years, 20 percent of the property in the area is now arts-related. Over 10 years, according to figures, the vacancy rate has dropped from 45 percent to 19 percent. Public-safety rates have increased, and crime has shifted from violent incidents to the kind more typical of a shopping mall.
"From a perceptual and branding position, I think we've done more to stabilize this neighborhood than any other initiative I've seen," says Matthew Galluzzo with Friendship Development Associates. "We've got a regional brand now, a regional identity."
Read the complete Cleveland Scene article.
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